The first time Emma Gray put on the Team Manitoba uniform, she won a gold and a bronze medal in rowing at the 2015 Western Canada Summer Games - that was her first year in the sport.

Two years later, not only is she back in Team Toba gear for the 2017 Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg, but she will lead the team into the Opening Ceremonies on July 28 as the official flag bearer.

"I feel honoured to be chosen to represent the Team Toba athletes at the Games," says Gray. "Being a member of Team Manitoba gives me the opportunity to row and race for something greater than myself."

Gray is one of 330 athletes who will compete for the home province at the Games between July 28 and August 13.

"We couldn’t be happier to have an athlete of Emma’s calibre, on and off the water, representing Team Manitoba," says Team Manitoba Chef de Mission Barry Moroz. "At Westerns in 2015, she really put her name on the map, and we’re excited to see what she can do with a couple more years under her belt. We’re also looking forward to seeing athletes take a page out of her book this summer and really make a splash on the national stage."

Since her Team Toba debut, Gray has won National Championships in the Junior Single and Under-23 Single categories, represented Canada at the World Championships, and holds the Junior and Under-23 National records in the 2k and 6k races.

At the Games, she’ll be competing against the best in the country, and it’s that challenge, she says, that drives her.

"Competing against other great rowers always pushes you to find that little bit extra you never knew you had within you."

Eastman region athletes who will be competing at the Canada Summer Games include Yanykk Nadeau of La Broquerie and Zach Giesbrecht of Landmark in Baseball; Jacob Loewen, formerly of Blumenort and now living in Winnipeg in Rowing, Gill Woodward of Ile des Chenes in Softball; Nick Friesen of Mitchell and Taylor Boughton of Oakbank in Volleyball; Carson Thompson of Blumenort in Cycling & Caleb Friesen of Grunthal in Special Olympics Athletics.